A celebration of "the father of American music," Stephen Foster, born on July 4th 1826.  Hear performances of his works by talents such as Marilyn Horne, Thomas Hampson, Itzhak Perlman, and Leopold Stokowski leading the Philadelphia Orchestra.  Naomi Lewin hosts.

It’s hard to imagine American music without the work of Stephen Collins Foster. Foster was born fifty years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was signed. In 19th century America, popular songs were churned out by the dozens, but no other composer of the day wrote as many great songs with as much sticking power as Foster. We all grew up singing Oh, Susannah, Beautiful Dreamer, Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair, Old Folks at Home … the list goes on and on.